According to the market analysts-slash-publicists of TechCrunch, Google is “dropping the mother of bombs on its chief rival” in Redmond. The Internet giant is launching an open-source operating system, Google Chrome OS, that will go head-to-head with Windows, especially on increasingly popular, low-cost netbooks.
“It’s a genius play” says the trade press— pairing a lightweight, fast OS, with a Netbook or tablet at a time most netbooks are running Windows XP.
The less contentious betting line is that when Chrome OS launches next year it will be aimed directly at Netbooks focusing on Web services, Web apps and cloud computing, not traditional desktop or PC computing applications. At least, not for starters.
Apple is rumored to have a touchscreen device in the works that could run on a special flavor of the iPhone OS or OS X or a combination of the two. The betting is that, there too, Apple will have stand-alone, multi-touch apps like the iPhone. That is not where Chrome OS will fit. Those facts notwithstanding, given the confluence of events and systems, the announcements may mean the end of Google CEO Eric Schmidt on Apple’s board of directors.
Speaking of stealthy new OS arrivials, MS has been “dropping hints” about its experimental Gazelle browser, which is being designed to act “like a self-contained operating system.” If Chrome OS gets a lot of positive press, we’ll expect to hear a lot more about Gazelle. [24×7]
Amazon Drops Price of Kindler Kindle E-Reader
Will a $60 price drop make more book lovers shelve their hardcovers for a digital display? Amazon hopes the answer is yes. The behemoths of Beacon Hill have dropped the price on the Kindle 2 e-reader to $299 from its recent price of $359. This new pricetag is a $100 drop from when Amazon introduced the original Kindle reader in 2007, when it gained a minor a cult following. Kindle 2, the second and current incarnation released six months ago in February, is about the width of a pencil and weighs about 10 ounces. It has enough memory to store more than 1,500 books. In addition, the current version includes a text-to-audio feature, plays MP3s music files and can hop onto the Internet over a 3G wireless connection, which is provided through an arrangement with Sprint. [24×7]
